Indications
Medical societies do not recommend either the ECG or any other cardiac imaging procedure as a routine screening procedure in patients without symptoms and who are at low risk for coronary heart disease. This is because overuse of the procedure is more likely to supply incorrect supporting evidence for a nonexistent problem than to detect a true problem. Tests which falsely indicate the existence of a problem are likely to lead to misdiagnosis, the recommendation of invasive procedures, or overtreatment, and the risks associated with managing false information are usually more troublesome than not using ECG results to make a health recommendation in low-risk individuals.
Symptoms generally indicating use of electrocardiography include:
- Symptoms of myocardial infarction
- Symptoms of pulmonary embolism
- Cardiac murmurs
- Syncope or collapse
- Seizures
- Perceived cardiac dysrhythmias
It is also used to assess patients with systemic disease, as well as monitoring during anesthesia and critically ill patients.
Read more about this topic: Electrocardiography
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